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2.3. Place-making and Reclaiming of a Site

Hill is a river; tree is a god. Natural archetypes in Hindu thought are metonymic
forms of divinity. They are synecdoche in their uniquely creative oscillation between

Thesis Report V-SPARC VIT
unity and multiplicity. The hill, river, or tree is the god or goddess. Yet as well as god
or goddess, the natural feature is metonymic, for it is also synecdoche, able to stand
in for the entire natural world. “For every temple, there are 1,00,000 ponds in the

grove,” declares a South Indian tradition. The sacred image of the pond in the grove

is a guide for the remediating of the east bank of the river from its secular impurity
s by the installation of constructed wetlands and the planting of vegetation. While

the pond suggests the possibility of amenity and retreat, the grove some of the richest

habitat for indigenous trees, bushes, and desirable plants in a city. Constructed

wetlands, being the fastest-growing form of water treatment in the world, would be
an appropriate intervention for both water treatment and restoration of habitat. The

constructed wetland is a self-regulating ecosystem with microorganisms, plants, and

gravel or artificial substrates. This will act as a biofilter and habitat for native flora

and fauna, increasing structural and biological polluting capacity and restoring the
habitat. The sacred geography of the Indian-centered groove is one that is not only

polycentric but also truly poly- and “imagined”, revealing a locative sacredness

“created by the journeys of millions and millions of pilgrims”.urlpatterns are sensory
experiences given form. They are memoriescape, a sense of place, a landmark in the

mind. In overt awareness the pond and the grove are great works of culture,

arrangements of birdsong and wind in trees, sung and creaking donuts of canvas and
sweat. Natural elements including vegetation, water, and both separate and

combined topography are all viewed as archetypal forms in the landspace by the

general public. Three things make architecture an important tool for memory: first,
it materializes and holds onto time, allowing one to observe the winds that wore the

Mohammedan rocks; second, it concretizes memory by enclosing and returning

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